Chapter 896: A Man of Distinction Becomes a Hero

Paris City Hall, Prime Minister's Office.

Clemenceau's calls came one after another:

"Congratulations, Prime Minister. I heard that your country has won another victory?"

“Oh no,” Clemenceau was stunned. “There was no victory. In fact, the Allies suffered a defeat at Saarbrücken.”

"Yes, but it's not France that's defeated. That's a victory, isn't it?"

Clemenceau: ...

Could you not put it so clearly? Do you understand diplomatic language?

"Uh!" Clemenceau cleared his throat: "I'm sorry, the French spirit does not allow me to think this way. We regret this and sincerely hope that Britain and the United States can move towards us. I believe we can reach a consensus on this!"

"I totally agree. Besides, 'fraternity' means love for all mankind, which of course includes our country, right?"

“Of course,” Clemenceau answered simply.

“I am glad to hear that our Prime Minister is planning to pay a goodwill visit to France next week.”

…

Gallieni's phone was also flooded with calls:

"Mr. Minister, I heard that you have drafted a bill to restrict the military exports of the Bernard Group?"

"Yes, this concerns the national security of France, and we have to be cautious."

"Of course, I fully agree and respect your decision. I just want to know, is our country within the restrictions?"

"Wait a moment, let me take a look." Gallieni took out a list from the drawer and searched for a while. "Oh, I am honored to tell you that most of your country's equipment is not subject to restrictions."

This list was claimed to be the result of parliamentary discussions and was used to restrict Bernard's military exports. In fact, it was provided by Charles.

And the Shire is targeting Britain and the United States.

In this way, the blame was shifted to the opposition members of parliament, and Britain and the United States had no idea that Charles was the culprit.

Even if you know it, there is nothing you can do. Smart people won’t choose to fall out.

"most?"

"Yes, except for the latest fighter planes, bombers, tanks, 'echo sounders' and the like, everything else can be sold freely."

"Does 'latest model' mean we can buy the next-level model?"

"Of course." Gallieni nodded affirmatively: "For example, the 'Charter A1' tank, the 'Camel' fighter, and the original 'Caproni' bomber."

"Perfect, but I'm worried about whether you have such a large production capacity. I plan to re-equip our army with equipment from the Bernard Group."

Gallieni replied calmly: "The production capacity may be a little tight. You know, it's wartime now. But I must remind you that there are many countries buying from you. If you don't place an order now..."

“I’ll place my order right away!”

…

As soon as Gallieni hung up the phone, the phone on the other side started ringing, and most of them were "important calls" at the national level.

Gallieni, overwhelmed, had to downgrade the "important call":

Originally, all national-level calls were considered “important calls” and had to be answered in person, and the Army Department had few diplomatic incidents.

But now, unless it is an important neutral country, all others will be handed over to the staff, otherwise Gallieni will probably work himself to death.

After finally catching his breath and sitting in a chair to drink a glass of milk, the staff officer secretly handed over a telegram.

Gallieni glanced at the telegram and almost spit out the milk in his mouth: Egypt hopes to purchase equipment produced by Bernard Company.

Egypt?

British colony?

…

Metz Headquarters.

Charles felt that he was becoming more and more like a designer. As a general, he was not focusing on military affairs but discussing the "super defense line" with Minister of War Lyautey.

The "Super Line" was built under the supervision of the French Minister of War.

This is the procedure: National projects must of course be managed and led by government personnel.

Of course, this is only in name only.

Everyone knows what the actual situation is. Charles has absolute control over the "super line of defense", from top to bottom.

Today is the first time that Leothe and Ciel meet.

What bothered Charles was Lyautey's other identity: the Governor of Morocco, a powerful general who represented the colonial faction.

(The picture above shows French General Lyautey during World War I. He served as Minister of War after Gallieni's death, but chose to resign three months later because he opposed the radical offensive of the French army. After the war, he was promoted to marshal.)

After hearing this, Ciel cursed in his heart: "These guys actually tried to use him to suppress me? Will it work?"

Of course it won't work.

The Charles has the support of the citizens and controls the Parliament, which is like a toy in the hands of the Charles, and can be manipulated to get any result he wants.

If Charles was unhappy, he could just make a phone call and have Parliament replace Lyautey as Minister of War.

But Charles didn't do that. He planned to meet this Leothe to see what his intentions were.

To be precise, it is to see what the colonialists' intentions are.

It was morning when Leotard arrived.

Charles, who slept late, had breakfast at 9:30. He ate Lorraine quiche while reading the newspaper, "admiring" the satire of the British and American coalition forces in major media.

At this time, Leotai walked in in a neat military uniform, accompanied by a staff officer.

Perhaps because he and Charles were both lieutenant generals, he saluted casually: "Lieutenant General Charles, nice to meet you."

Ciel stood up and returned the greeting, still chewing his food: "Nice to meet you, Lieutenant General, what's going on?"

Leotai took the briefcase from the staff officer, took out a few blueprints and placed them in front of Charles: "I'm here to discuss the construction of the 'Super Defense Line' with you. I wonder if you are free now?"

Xia Eryang glanced at the food and newspaper in his hand and said, "Yes, I have plenty of time."

Charles thought that discussing the "super defense line" was just an excuse, and that Leothe should talk about something else next.

But I didn’t expect that Leotai was serious. He discussed from morning to night, and all he talked about was the “super line of defense”.

There is not enough internal space, the ammunition reserves need to be increased, and the thickness of the cement defense line needs to be increased...

Finally, Charles couldn't help but say, "Lieutenant General Leothe, do you have anything else to say?"

Lieutenant General Lyautey smiled softly and asked, "What do you think I will say? Protest your colonial policy?"

"Shouldn't it be?" Charles looked at Leothe curiously.

He had already thought of how to answer and was just waiting for Leothe to ask that question, but Leothe refused to do so.

Leotai stood up.

"Please put it this way, Lieutenant General Charles."

"If the Anglo-American coalition forces had won yesterday instead of being defeated, I would have a different attitude today. Do you understand?"

Charles said "Oh".

Is this what “a man of insight is a hero” means?

Knowing that he couldn't fight against Charles, he surrendered voluntarily?

(End of this chapter)